Outside of historians of medicine, or of Dutch science, not many of us are particularly familiar with the Dutch anatomist, apothecary, “municipal obstetrician,” museum curator, and compleat naturalist Frederik Ruysch (1638– 1731), unless we are also frequent visitors to blogs with names such as Morbid Anatomy—for Ruysch’s anatomical preparations really were sui generis, one of a kind, somewhere in between scientifically remarkable, extremely useful in the progress of anatomical knowledge, and magnificently quirky and disturbing. His “prepared” embryos and small children were frequently described as being asleep rather than dead. Balzac, in his 1831 novel La peau de chagrin (which has been variously translated as The Magic Skin or TheWild Ass Skin), has the main character enter a curiosity shop and see what he thinks is a sleeping child; it turns out to be a lost “item” from Ruysch’s anatomical collection.

Kooijmans also tells the story of the Emperor Peter the Great (who bought Ruysch’s collection, which presently is in St. Petersburg, having experienced some ups and downs in the standards of preservation over the years) kneeling to kiss a “sleeping child” embalmed by Ruysch. We can get this uncanny Ruyschian effect for ourselves—albeit mediated by oil paint—if we look at the wonderful, Rembrandt-inspired painting of Ruysch and friends entitled The Anatomy Lesson of Frederik Ruysch (above) by Adriaan Backer (1670; in the Amsterdam Historical Museum), which Kooijmans has reproduced. As contrasted with any other “anatomy lesson” painting, the corpse here looks much more like a sleeping person than a dead body. This is also the theme in a remarkable piece of literature that Kooijmans barely discusses, Giacomo Leopardi’s “Dialogue between Frederick Ruysch and His Mummies,” in his 1824 Operette morali, which is a meditation on death and the uncanny “life-likeness” of the preserved bodies (which Leopardi calls mummies).

The point that Ruysch belonged to multiple different scientific, cultural, aesthetic, and otherwise quirky trajectories (including currently fashionable discussion of visuality in the history of science) is also apparent if we contrast the high praise Ruysch received posthumously from such otherwise nationalistic historians of medicine as Portal and Daremberg, his éloge by Fontenelle, or, most strikingly to us, the fact that after Newton’s death the Académie des Sciences in Paris decided to honor Ruysch by appointing him to Newton’s place (p. 422) with facts such as these: a 1690 inventory of his collection included “the skeleton of a human embryo of 4 months, holding in its left hand a bundle of lymph vessels, which I removed from a body more than 25 yrs ago, inflated and preserved in such a way that the valves are still clearly visible. What a lot of trouble beautiful things can be!” (59), or, much more disturbingly, the specimen, or tableau non vivant as the author puts it, of a hand holding a vulva, from Leiden University’s collection (reproduced on 284; some of these images are probably too macabre for most readers).

Sometimes, the disturbing is just strange, perhaps because we have only the story, rather than “the thing itself” (e.g., one item in his collection was described as “a small 4-footed animal that had been regurgitated by a 78-year old woman …enclosed in a pouch rather than membranes” [282]; the family wanted no money and there were credible witnesses to the event). However, the extent to which monstrosity can infect history (via the imagination) is surprising: Kooijmans notes that of the nearly one thousand specimens prepared by Ruysch, which were later bought by Peter the Great and shipped to St. Petersburg, only 11 actually display abnormalities. More conventionally beautiful are his daughter Rachel’s still-life paintings...

You can read this review in its entirety by clicking here; You can also come pay a visit the book at The Morbid Anatomy Library during open hours from 2-6 every Saturday, or buy a copy of your own by clicking here.

Image: The Anatomy Lesson of Frederik Ruysch (above) by Adriaan Backer (1670; in the Amsterdam Historical Museum); click on image to see larger, more detailed version.

We
complain, but modern-day medicine has been good to us. Not so the
medicine of the nineteenth century, and for a good two thousand years
before that. From the time of the ancient Greeks until relatively
recently, even the best, most respected doctors did more harm than good,
and hurt more patients than they helped.

With acid and hot irons
doctors blistered and burned their patients, even as respected European
physicians raced to stamp out “spermatorrhea" (wet dreams). Medical
journals had doctors stick dried peas into freshly opened wounds-to
promote pus and infection-and shove leeches into bodily cavities, though
they sometimes got “lost” inside. Cutting-edge doctors used electricity
to cure impotence and bad eyesight, while Benjamin Rush, Treasurer of
the Mint and signer of the Declaration of Independence, hung his
patients from the ceiling and “twirled” them for hours on end, to get
blood flowing to their brains.

Copies of Strange Medicine will be available for sale, and wine will be served.Nathan Belofsky
is a writer and attorney living in Manhattan. Strange Medicine, his
second book, has been lauded by Publishers Weekly and Booklist, and will
soon be available in foreign translation. Visit the website at
strangemedicine.com.

_______________________________________________

Day Long "Wonder Cabinet and Medical History Festival," New York Academy of Medicine
Date: Saturday, October 5, 2013
Time: 11.00 AM - 7.00 PM (Open-bar after Party from 7-9PM)
*** OFFSITE AT The New York Academy of Medicine (1216 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, New York, NY 10029)
Admission: Free and no registration necessary except for classes and party; click here to register for those
Co-curated by Morbid Anatomy and Lawrence Weschler

This
all day, open-to-the-public "Wonder Cabinet and Medical History
Festival" will include lectures, workshops, behind-the-scenes tours,
demonstrations and, at the end of the day, an after-party featuring
medical films from the National Library of Medicine, the music of DJ Friese Undine, and an open bar.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to make their own Dance of Death linoleum cuts, draw from real anatomical specimens and/or animal skeletons, try their hand at the arcane art of carbon dust medical illustration, witness a demonstration of medical wax moulage, and learn about the musculoskeletal system via an "anatomy performance" using a live model.

They
will also have the opportunity to explore the fantastic inner spaces of
this incredible (see above) and under-seen New York landmark.

Image: Coller Rare Book Reading Room, New York Academy of Medicine.
_______________________________________________

Heavenly Bodies – Jeweled Sacred Skeletons of the 16th Century
Illustrated lecture and book party with Dr. Paul Koudounaris, with music and artisinal cocktails by Friese Undine
Date: Friday, October 11
Time: 8:00
Admission: $8
**Copies of Heavenly Bodieswill be available for sale and signing
Location: Observatory, Brooklyn (543 Union Street (at Nevins), Brooklyn, NY 11215)

These
largely anonymous skeletons were presented as the remains of Early
Christian martyrs, and treated as sacred. They were sent to Catholic
churches and religious houses in German-speaking Europe to replace the
holy relics that had been destroyed in the wake of the Protestant
Reformation. Here, the skeletons would be carefully reassembled and
richly adorned with jewels and precious costumes by teams of nuns.
Intended as flamboyant devotional items, they are now considered some of
the finest works of art ever created in the medium of human bone. As
time passed, faith in these sumptuously decorated skeletons--once an
important part of the spiritual life of many people--wavered, until
finally they were cast out during the Enlightenment as remnants of a
superstitious and embarrassing Catholic past.

Largely forgotten in
the annals of religious history, Dr. Koudounaris gained unprecedented
access to religious institutions where the surviving decorated skeletons
are held. His photographs are the first that were ever taken of many of
them, and the images which will accompany his lecture are bizarre,
moving, and beautiful.

Dr. Paul Koudounaris
holds a PhD in Art History (UCLA) and has taught classes at numerous
universities and published in magazines throughout the world. He is the
author of The Empire of Death, the first illustrated history of charnel
houses and religious sanctuaries decorated with human bone. Named one of
the ten best books of 2011 (London Evening Standard), it has garnered
international attention for its combination of unique historical
research and stunning photography.

Photo: Photo by Dr. Paul Koudounaris, tonight's speaker, from his new book "Heavenly Bodies."
_______________________________________________

Mexico's rich relationship with death extends far beyond its renowned Dia de los Muertos,
or Day of the Dead, a holiday related to Catholic All Souls' Day in
which the spirits of the dead are enticed back to the land of the living
with traditional food and drink, elaborate altars, and sugar skulls
(see image). Indeed, from Mexico's indigenous Mayans, to the artwork of José Posada and the cult phenomenon of Santa Muerte,
to today's über-violent drug wars, death has taken a prominent role in
the formation of the country's culture, leading scholar Claudio Lomnitz
to single out Death herself as the symbol of Mexico's national identity.

Today's event will celebrate and plumb the history of Dia de los Muertos
with a lecture followed by a sugar skull making workshop. The lecture
seeks to contextualize this enigmatic holiday, framing what is often
thought of as the Mexican version of Halloween within the greater
context of a culture that has blended indigenous practices, Spanish
Catholic beliefs and responses to revolutions and violence, leading to
an embracing of death as a necessary part of life rather than a specter
to be avoided and feared.

In the workshop, attendees will be
provided with a blank, undecorated sugar skull, fully assembled, dried,
and ready to decorate. Royal icing in bright colors as well as other
traditional decorative materials such as sequins and colored foils will
be provided. Each attendee is encouraged to bring any personal
decorating items they wish to use if they are making a skull for a
specific departed individual, though smaller items are recommended.
Traditional themes and patterns will be discussed, as well as decoration
application techniques. At the end of the workshop, each person will
have their own large sugar skull to take home. Because of the drying
time involved with the royal icing, it is advised that skulls be left to
dry and set. Extra blank skulls will be available for purchase for
those interested, as well as directions for making the royal icing
recipe that is recommended for skull decoration.

Dru Munsell
is a biological anthropology degree candidate at Columbia University
specializing in forensics, pathological human anatomy, and cultural
fetish and taboo. She examines these topics in her thesis on the
intersection of science and spectacle as literally embodied by both the
"born different" and "working acts" of sideshow and circus performance.
Dru currently works as an intern for the Morbid Anatomy Library as well
as a scientific consultant, archivist, transcriber, and
Jane-of-all-Trades for James Taylor's Shocked & Amazed: On and Off
the Midway. After completing her studies, she plans to either work with
the governmental agency, DMORT, doing body identification at scenes of
mass death with a particular interest in the mass graves of
post-colonial revolutions and genocides in Latin America, or running
away and joining the circus.
_______________________________________________

Death Salon, Los Angeles, California
A weekend symposium devoted to to discussions of mortality and its cultural implications with special programming by Morbid Anatomy and The Order of the Good DeathDates: October 18 - 20
Full info and registration her

A one day, open-to-the-public Morbid Anatomy
pop-up event which will explore the interstices of art and medicine,
death and culture with screenings, a mini-symposium, a lecture on fin de siècle Parisian death themed cabarets with recreations of their classic drinks, and a panel on saints and mortification of the flesh.

2-5: Obliterated Bodies, Dissected Souls: Panel Moderated by Colin DickeyMortification of the Feminine Flesh: Elizabeth Harper
From the fatal anorexia of St. Catherine of Sienna to St. Rose of
Lima's hidden crown of nails, self-inflicted pain has become part of a
well-worn path to holiness for many Catholic women. However, these
shocking acts become comprehensible and even logical when seen as a
response to the transformation of the Church from the egalitarian early
Christian church to the strict patriarchy of the Catholic Church as we
know it. This change, coupled with Catholicism's unique views on death
and martyrdom have lead many holy women to believe that to perfect a
woman's soul, her body must be destroyed.

The Annihilated Saint: The Signifying Body of Bartholomew: Colin Dickey
Colin Dickey discusses images of torture in the cult of Christian
saints, particularly Saint Bartholomew, who was flayed alive and who is
regularly depicted holding his own skin. Inverting the traditional
relationship of torturer and powerless victim, Christian imagery turned
the act of torture into empowerment, where specific methods of torture
became iconically associated with specific saints. As the cult of the
saints waned, these images of torture began to filter into European
consciousness in bizarre and fascinating ways, as Bartholomew's singular
torture found its way into the lexicon of Renaissance anatomy
textbooks, creating a new relationship between the sublime body and the
dissected corpse.

Bringing Out the Dead: The "Anatomy Art" of Gunther von Hagens: Allison de Fren
Filmmaker/media scholar Allison de Fren discusses the corporeal
displays of controversial German anatomist Gunther von Hagens. Using
examples from both his traveling exhibition of human cadavers,
Bodyworlds, and his UK television series Anatomy for Beginners, she will
show how von Hagens recycles the visual motifs of Renaissance anatomy
theatre and art to resuscitate the practice of public dissection for
contemporary audiences

5-6: ”Cabarets of Death” : Lecture followed by fin de siècle Parisian death-themed cabarets cocktails from original recipes with Mel Gordon

Highly
illustrated lecture with reprints of the Cabaret du Néant’s menu and a
recreation of their classic drinks from original recipes.

Today,
join former AMNH Senior Insect Preparator Daisy Tainton for
Observatory's popular Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Workshop. In this
class, students will work with Rhinoceros beetles: nature's tiny
giants. Each student will learn to make--and leave with their
own!--shadowbox dioramas featuring carefully positioned beetles doing
nearly anything you can imagine. Beetles and shadowboxes are provided,
and an assortment of miniature furniture, foods, and other props will be
available to decorate your habitat. Students need bring nothing, though
are encouraged to bring along dollhouse props if they have a particular
vision for their final piece; 1:12 scale work best.

BEETLES WILL BE PROVIDED. Each student receives one beetle approximately 2-3 inches tall when posed vertically.

Daisy Taintonwas
formerly Senior Insect Preparator at the American Museum of Natural
History, and has been working with insects professionally for several
years. Eventually her fascination with insects and love of Japanese
miniature food items naturally came together, resulting in cute and
ridiculous museum-inspired yet utterly unrealistic dioramas. Beetles at
the dentist? Beetles eating pie and knitting sweaters? Even beetles on
the toilet? Why not?

Wax
artist Sigrid Sarda has returned for a special 2 day class teaching the
art of doll making. This class will revolve entirely on the creation of
a wax doll in the image of the student’s chosen saint with the relic of
their choice.

The wax doll represented as a human figure has
always fascinated man. In early times these dolls were connected to
witchcraft, magic, exorcisms for priests, and effigies. For this class
they represent talismans and reliquaries for the student’s own personal
interpretation of the saint’s meaning. The doll then becomes an object
of prayer and veneration.

Each student will receive a handmade wax
doll by Sigrid, either male or female and in turn will learn to set
eyes, root hair, color the skin tone and add special physical quirks the
saint may have, an example being stigmata or a particular wound. The
student will then realize their own decorated costumes for the saints
using patterns in the art of Victorian paper clothes making for dolls.

This class will consist of:

short talk on the history of the wax doll and everyone’s chosen saint and what it

means to them.

inserting glass eyes

rooting hair

Lunch break

rooting hair, beginning of skin coloring and adding any special physical quirks.

followed by

finish up skin coloring and quirks

insert / add relic

lunch break

make and decorate clothing for doll

dress doll

Materials
are included though the student is expected to bring their own relic.
The relic can be a lock of hair, a fingernail, bone, anything that has
meaning to the student. The trims, spangles and paper for the costumes
are either antique or vintage as are the glass eyes.

The dolls will be approx 6"-8".

Sigrid Sarda is self taught in the art of ceroplastics. She has been featured on such programs as The Midnight Archive, TV's Oddities,
and has exhibited in London and NYC. She has an upcoming residency at
The Gordon Museum in London, recreating the Black Dahlia for NoirCon
2014 and will be giving a demonstration in the art of medical wax
moulage for The New York Academy of Medicine this fall.

Anthropomorphic
taxidermy--a practice in which taxidermied animals are posed as if
engaged in human activities--was an artform made famous by Victorian
taxidermist and museologist Walter Potter. In this class, as profiled by
the New York Times, students will learn to create--from start to
finish--anthropomorphic mice inspired by the charming and imaginative
work of Mr. Potter. Your final project might take the form of a
bespectacled, whiskey swilling, top hat tipping mouse; or perhaps a
rodent mermaid queen of the burlesque world? With some props and some
artful styling, your mouse can become whatever or whomever you want;
this is the joy of anthropomorphic taxidermy.

*In this special
HALLOWEEN edition, the usual selection of miniatures and props provided
for student use will be supplemented by some extra spooky bonus items.
Students are also welcome to don costumes and other festive attire (but
it is in no way required). To further celebrate one of my favorite
holidays, we will end the class with a dark cocktail and delicious treat
:) Again, Halloween spirit is not required, but sure is fun!*

This
class will teach students everything involved in producing a fully
finished mount, including initial preparation, hygiene and sanitary
measures, fleshing, tail stripping, and dry preservation. Once properly
preserved, the mice will be posed and outfitted as the student desires,
with a selection of props and accessories provided. Students are also
encouraged to bring their own accessories and bases. All other supplies
will be provided for use in class.

Each student will leave class with a fully finished piece, and the knowledge to create their own pieces in the future.

Divya Anantharaman
is a Brooklyn based artist whose taxidermy practice was sparked by a
lifelong fascination with natural mythology and everyday oddities. After
a journey filled with trial and error, numerous books, and an inspiring
class (Sue Jeiven's popular Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class at
Observatory!), she has found her calling in creating sickly sweet and
sparkly critters. Beginning with mice and sparrows, her menagerie grew
to include domestic cats, woodchucks, and deer. Recently profiled on
Vice Fringes, the New York Observer, and other publications, she will
also be appearing in the upcoming season of Oddities-and is definitely
up to no good shenanigans. You can find out more at www.d-i-v-y-a.com
Also, some technical notes:

We use NO harsh or dangerous chemicals.

Everyone will be provided with gloves.

All animals are disease free.

Although there will not be a lot of blood or gore, a strong constitution is necessary; taxidermy is not for everyone

All animals were already dead, nothing was killed for this class.

Please do not bring any dead animals with you to the class.

_______________________________________________

SOLD OUT!!! Death
in Mexico: A Special Field Trip to Mexico for Day of the Dead, Obscure
Macabre Museums, and other Sites Important to the History of Death in
Mexico October 31 - November 4
A
4-day trip to Mexico focusing on sites influential to the Mexican
history of death, organized by Mexican writer and scholar Salvador
Olguín and Morbid AnatomyDates: October 31 - November 4 2013 (**Must reserve by July 20)Includes: Two Day of the Dead Festivals; Special tours of The Museo de las Momias (Mummy Museum), The Museo Nacional de la Muerte (National Museum of Death), and The José Guadalupe Posada Museum, and a visit to historical Hidalgo market in Guanajuato, the Zacatecas Cathedral, the Temple of the Jesuit Order and other beautiful places.Cost: $600.00 USD (Includes all hotels, luxury ground transportation, museum admissions, and breakfasts; airfares not included)PLEASE NOTE: non-refundable down payment of $250.00 required by July 20 to reserve) Email info@borderlineprojects.com info [at] borderlineprojects.com with questions.

This
Halloween season, why not join Morbid Anatomy and Mexican scholar
Salvador Olguín for a very special 4-day, 4-night trip to Mexico for our
favorite holiday, Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead?

With
Mexican writer and history of death in Mexico scholar Salvador Olguín
as our guide, this tour will introduce attendees to some of the of
lesser-known macabre destinations in Mexico holding unique gems
associated with the culture of death. Our journey will take us to two
off-the-beaten-track Day of the Dead celebrations, special tours of
obscure museums, markets selling Day of the Dead and Santa Muerte
artifacts, churches, cemeteries, and, throughout, great regional cuisine
(and drink!) and luxury transportation.

Departing from Monterrey,
the trip will take us to the beautiful, historical colonial cities of
Guanajuato, Zacatecas and Aguascalientes to experience an area
traditionally described as wild and untamed within Mexico. This region
of Mexico is uniquely important to the history of death in Mexico in
that it was the home of both José Guadalupe Posada and Joaquín de
Bolaños, author of the first official Mexican biography of DeathLa Portentosa Vida de la Muerte published in 1792.

A
plethora of stores and other places for shopping, delicious food, an
evening tour of Guanajuato with live music included, and much more.

October 31
We
recommend arriving in Monterrey on the evening of Halloween, October
31. We will have a Halloween celebration, Mexican style, and we will
depart to our first destination early in the morning of November 1st.

November 1st - Monterrey/Guanajuato
We
will convene in Monterrey, Mexico at 7:30 in the morning, and leave for
the city of Guanajuato by bus. Mexico’s Museo de las Momias (Mummy
Museum) makes the small Colonial city of Guanajuato the star of this
tour. The Mummy Museum has been displaying the naturally mummified
bodies of people buried in the local cemetery for almost 150 years. A
combination of dry weather, a mineral-rich soil, and a potent
concentration of minerals in the water makes every person who has lived
and died in Guanajuato a potential mummy, according to local lore. The
museum itself is a wonderful combination of the macabre and the kitsch.
You can visit the actual cemetery and see real mummies, but you can also
visit the ‘modern’ Halloweenesque section of the museum, and eat charamuscas, a sugary candy shaped like a mummy.

November 2nd – Zacatecas
Zacatecas,
another small Colonial city in Northern Mexico, was the home of Joaquín
de Bolaños, author of the first official Mexican biography of Death.La Portentosa Vida de la Muerte was
first published in 1792, and was quickly condemned by the literary
elites and some prominent officers of the Inquisition. The book managed
to survive, and nowadays the City of Zacatecas honors Bolaños, its
prodigal son, with a festival named after him around Day of the Dead.

November 3rd – Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes
was the birthplace of José Guadalupe Posada. Posada’s Calaveras have
become icons of the festivities around Día de Muertos. In this city, we
will visit the José Guadalupe Posada Museum, which houses original
illustrations by Posada and other engravers of the time. The tour
includes an exclusive visit of the Museo Nacional de la Muerte (National
Museum of Death.)

We will be back in Monterrey by November 4
after 5:00 p.m. Please consider this for your traveling arrangements.
For more information, contact info [at] borderlineprojects.com

The
$600 fee covers land transportation in a luxury bus, traveler
insurance, lodging (double rooms at hotels), taxes, breakfasts, guided
tours, tickets to all museums, special visits to some of the sites, and
special treats.

_______________________________________________

Death in America and the Green Cemetery Movement
An Illustrated lecture by funeral director Amy Cunningham
Date: Thursday, November 7
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $8
Location: Observatory, Brooklyn (543 Union Street (at Nevins), Brooklyn, NY 11215)
Each
year in the U.S., the death care industry buries enough formaldehyde to
fill eight Olympic sized swimming pools, enough metal in caskets form
to rebuild the Golden Gate Bridge, and enough concrete in burial vaults
to construct a two-lane highway running halfway across the country.
While our cemeteries are rich with national and local histories, natural
habitats and remembrances of the dead, they’re also a blazing locus of
waste and pollution.

In tonight's illustrated lecture, funeral
director Amy Cunningham will share the history of American death
practices from Victorian family-centric rituals to contemporary ideas of
the "green cemetery," a grassroots movement dedicated to the
development of ecologically responsible and meaningful end-of-life
rituals.

Amy Cunningham is a New York licensed funeral director
and celebrant who specializes in helping families plan sustainable
end-of-life rituals. A former magazine journalist, she maintains a blog
called TheInspiredFuneral.com.

In
this hands-on class, we will study the wiley ermine! Also known as a
white weasel (they are actually brown in the summer, and turn white in
the winter), this small creature used to be harvested by the hundreds
for the plush robes of royalty-but not so much anymore. It has become
less profitable since they are small animals (and do not yield lots of
fur like the more popular fox or coyote)-so much that the ones used in
class were collected from a game farm and tannery downsizing business
and discarding old stock of unwanted frozen animals. Students will
create a fully-finished mount in a naturalistic or anthropomorphic
position. Students will learn everything involved in producing a
finished mount - from initial preparation, hygiene and sanitary
measures, to proper technique and dry preservation.

The class will teach
how to create a wrapped body form using the ermine's own body as
reference. Students will have the choice of cleaning and reconstructing
the skull, or carving one using the natural one as reference. The use of
anatomical study, reference photos, and detailed observation will also
be reviewed as important tools in recreating the natural poses and
expressions that magically reanimate a specimen. A selection of props
will be provided, however, students are welcome to bring their own bases
and accessories if something specific is desired. All other supplies
will be provided for use in class.

Each student will leave class with a fully finished piece, and the knowledge to create their own pieces in the future.

Divya Anantharaman
is a Brooklyn based artist whose taxidermy practice was sparked by a
lifelong fascination with natural mythology and everyday oddities. After
a journey filled with trial and error, numerous books, and an inspiring
class (Sue Jeiven's popular Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class at
Observatory!), she has found her calling in creating sickly sweet and
sparkly critters. Beginning with mice and sparrows, her menagerie grew
to include domestic cats, woodchucks, and deer. Recently profiled on
Vice Fringes, the New York Observer, and other publications, she will
also be appearing in the upcoming season of Oddities-and is definitely
up to no good shenanigans. You can find out more at www.d-i-v-y-a.com
Also, some technical notes:

We use NO harsh or dangerous chemicals.

Everyone will be provided with gloves.

All animals are disease free.

Although there will not be a lot of blood or gore, a strong constitution is necessary; taxidermy is not for everyone

All animals were already dead, nothing was killed for this class.

Please do not bring any dead animals with you to the class.

_______________________________________________

Mother Machine: an ‘Uncanny Valley’ in the Eighteenth Century
Illustrated lecture with Dr. Brandy Schillace

Known
by a variety of names—“this most curious machine,” “this mock woman,”
and the “celebrated Apparatus” —Dr. William Smellie’s mechanized
obstetrical phantom was both science and spectacle in the eighteenth
century. Strangely, however, though crucial to the training of at least
900 man-midwives in ten years, the machine disappears from both the
actual and rhetorical "scene" of 18th-century obstetrical science.

This
illustrated talk will explore the mitigating factors contributing to
the machine's disappearance. Why was such a valuable teaching tool
auctioned to the public after Smellie’s death? Why did famed
obstetrician William Hunter agree to sell his own copy of the machine to
Dr. Foster of the Dublin Rotunda? And why—after so much popular
debate—does the machine disappear from public notice by the latter part
of the century? Dr. Schillace will also document her own rather
circuitous journey of discovery, that is, the necessary labor of
unearthing (if not birthing) a medical artifact’s unusual history.Dr. Brandy Schillace
is an interdisciplinary, medical-humanist scholar. She writes about
cultural production, history of science, and intersections of medicine
and literature. She is the managing editor of Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry,
an international journal of cross-cultural health research and a guest
curator and blogger for the Dittrick Medical History Museum. Dr.
Schillace was the keynote speaker for the annual meeting of the
Archivists and Librarians in the History of Health Sciences 2013, and is
the recent recipient of the Chawton House Library Fellowship (for study
of 18th century women writers) and the Wood Institute travel grant from
the Philadelphia College of Physicians. She has also an edited book
collection under contingent contract with Cambria Press: Birthing the Monster of Tomorrow: Unnatural Reproductions. For a selection of recently published work, please visit http://fictionreboot-dailydose.com/publications-and-press.

Image: A
late eighteenth-century “birthing phantom.” Unlike Smellie’s machine,
these were not intended to be exactly like the living body, but rather a
basic replica allowing midwives to understand the position of the child
in the birth canal. By permission of the Dittrick Medical History Center and Museum
_______________________________________________

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is often read as a narrative of reverse colonization, revealing fears of degeneration at the fin de siècle.
Anxieties over the decline of empire and—as both symptom and
consequence—the degeneration of masculinity in Victorian Britain
resulted in a number of dystopic narratives, each revealing an uneasy
relationship between evolution and devolution, sexuality, sexual
identity and mental health. However, the signal terror of Stoker’s
vampires lies not only in their overt sexuality and promiscuity—but also
in their fecundity. As Van Helsing warns, the vampire is not a single
foe but a potential army. Both “father” and unnatural mother, Count
Dracula is capable of reproducing the undead—and yet his victims do not,
it seems reproduce themselves.

In this presentation Dr. Schillace
will explore accounts of syphilitic infection as a means of
understanding the complexities of infection among the “innocents,” Lucy
Westenra and the children she victimizes. Culminating in a
re-examination of the only human birth in Stoker’s novel—Mina Harker’s
son Quincy—this project seeks to provide new insight into 19th century
anxieties about degeneration’s naissance.

Dr. Brandy Schillace
is an interdisciplinary, medical-humanist scholar. She writes about
cultural production, history of science, and intersections of medicine
and literature. She is the managing editor of Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry,
an international journal of cross-cultural health research and a guest
curator and blogger for the Dittrick Medical History Museum. Dr.
Schillace was the keynote speaker for the annual meeting of the
Archivists and Librarians in the History of Health Sciences 2013, and is
the recent recipient of the Chawton House Library Fellowship (for study
of 18th century women writers) and the Wood Institute travel grant from
the Philadelphia College of Physicians. She also an edited book
collection under contingent contract with Cambria Press: Birthing the Monster of Tomorrow: Unnatural Reproductions. For a selection of recently published work, please visit http://fictionreboot-dailydose.com/publications-and-press.
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In
this intimate, hands-on class (limited to only six students), we will
study the happy and hoppy rabbit! Students will create a fully-finished
rabbit mount in a naturalistic or anthropomorphic position. There is
also the option to create a "trophy style" shoulder mount (where the
head and shoulder is mounted on a wooden plaque). When purchasing
ticket, please specify which you would like to do.

Students will
learn everything involved in producing a finished mount - from initial
preparation, hygiene and sanitary measures, to proper technique and dry
preservation. The class will teach how to create a wrapped body form
using the rabbit's own body as reference, and how to reconstruct a
rabbit head using the skull as reference. Students will also be
introduced to the techniques of ear turning and ear carding. The use of
anatomical study, reference photos, and detailed observation will also
be reviewed as important tools in recreating the natural poses and
expressions that magically reanimate a specimen. A selection of props
will be provided, however, students are welcome to bring their own bases
and accessories if something specific is desired. All other supplies
will be provided for use in class.

Each student will leave class with a fully finished piece, and the knowledge to create their own pieces in the future.

Divya Anantharaman
is a Brooklyn based artist whose taxidermy practice was sparked by a
lifelong fascination with natural mythology and everyday oddities. After
a journey filled with trial and error, numerous books, and an inspiring
class (Sue Jeiven's popular Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class at
Observatory!), she has found her calling in creating sickly sweet and
sparkly critters. Beginning with mice and sparrows, her menagerie grew
to include domestic cats, woodchucks, and deer. Recently profiled on
Vice Fringes, the New York Observer, and other publications, she will
also be appearing in the upcoming season of Oddities-and is definitely
up to no good shenanigans. You can find out more at www.d-i-v-y-a.com

Also, some technical notes:

We use NO harsh or dangerous chemicals.

Everyone will be provided with gloves.

All animals are disease free.

Although there will not be a lot of blood or gore, a strong constitution is necessary; taxidermy is not for everyone

All animals were already dead, nothing was killed for this class.

Please do not bring any dead animals with you to the class.

Full list and more information on all events can be found here. More on the Morbid Anatomy Art Academy can be found here.

Image: Enrique Simonet, "¿Y tenía corazón?" (1895), found on Wikipedia; click on image to see larger, more detailed version.

If you are interested in a wonderful (if brief!) discussion on BBC Radio 4's Today Programabout anthropomorphic taxidermy with sculptor Polly Morgan and Walter Potter's Curious World of Taxidermyco-author Pat Morris, click here and then scroll in about 2:50. Above is a photo of the two in the studios, drawn from the BBC's Twiter Feed, wherein Pat holds Walter Potter's first taxidermied canary, and Polly, a copy of the book.

You can purchase your own copy of the book--which is cloth bound, 128 pages, and contains over 100 full color images, many never before published--by clicking here (for UK orders) or here (for US); International buyers please email morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Interested
in knowing more about an early anatomical text's direct relationship to pornography (top two images)? Or the fetal skeleton tableaux of "artist of death" Frederik Ruysch (second image down)? Or perhaps you'd be interested in knowing more about the relationship between a pioneering criminology text and surrealist art (bottom two images)?

Also, don't forget to save the date for the October 5th Festival of Medical History and the Arts at NYAM, co-curated by Morbid Anatomy and Lawrence Weschler, author of Mr. Wilson and his Cabinet of Wonders. You can find more on that here, and more on a few anatomical workshops offered as part of that event by clicking here.

The lecture will begin at 6 and will take place at The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum, which is located at 421 East 61st Street between First and York Avenue in New York City. Full details on both the lecture and exhibition follow; hope to see you there! Also, stay tuned for news of a special Morbid Anatomy tour of the exhibition to take place very soon--probably on October 14th!

LECTURE
"The History of Hair Work Jewelry"
Illustrated lecture with Karen Bachmann, Art Historian and Master Jeweler
September 20, 6pm
$18 Adults; $15 Museum Members and Students

Art Historian and Master Jeweler Karen Bachmann will present 19th-century mourning rituals, focusing on hair work jewelry, a popular form of commemorative art that reached its zenith during the Victorian Era. Afterward, join Ms. Bachmann for a reception and discussion of the Museum's exhibit.

EXHIBITION
The Art of Hair Work: Love and Memory in the 19th Century
August 28, 2013 – November 17, 2013

The Art of Hair Work: Love and Memory in the 19th Century, Part II, opens August 28, 2013, at The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden and will remain on view until November 17, 2013. Used as tokens of love, friendship, and remembrance, the objects in this exhibition show changing social customs and popular fashions in the 19th century. Hair work set into jewelry had been produced in Europe for several centuries, but it was not until the second half of the eighteenth century that hair jewelry began to be produced in significant quantities in America. Hair was a natural material for mourning ornaments; however, hair jewelry was also often used for commemorative or celebratory purposes. Part II of the exhibition focuses on the mid-to-late 19th century and the development of hair jewelry in both size and the elaborate nature and variety of designs. Professional hair jewelry manufacturers could now be found along Broadway, and directions for making hair work at home were printed in popular ladies’ magazines and instructional manuals. Objects on display include rings, charms, pendants, bracelets and two hair wreaths, one of the more elaborate forms of this art.

An opening reception with a lecture by Art Historian and Master Jeweler Karen Bachmann will be held on September 20th at 6pm at The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden. Ms. Bachmann will present 19th-century mourning rituals, focusing on hair work jewelry which reached its zenith during the Victorian Era.

The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum building was constructed in 1799 as a carriage house and converted into a “day hotel” in 1826. Today the museum transports visitors back to that Mount Vernon Hotel, a 19th-century country resort for New Yorkers escaping the crowded city below 14th Street. The Museum’s mission is to preserve and interpret travel, leisure, work and play in diverse antebellum New York.

Visitor Information: The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11am to 4pm. The exhibit is open concurrent with Museum hours and is included with admission. The Museum is located at 421 East 61st Street between First and York Avenues. It is easily accessible from 59th Street/Lexington Avenue on the 4, 5, 6 or N, R, Q. For further information call the Museum at 212-838-6878 or visit www.mvhm.org.

More here. Hope very much to see you there! Image supplied by the museum.

A few days ago, I paid a lovely visit to Alexis Turner, author of the new and beautiful Thames and Hudson book Taxidermy who also, it turns out, runs the showroom/shop "London Taxidermy." You can find see more photos from my visit as part of my recent guest post for the new Walter Potter Blog by clicking here. If you are interested in contributing to the blog, email us at walterpottertaxidermy [at] gmail.com.

As part of the festivities, Morbid Anatomy will be presenting four our all-time most popular anatomically-themed Morbid Anatomy Art Academy classes. We will begin the day with Lado Pochkhua's "Dance of Death" class (top image), in which students will create their very own fully finished linocut based on the forty-two wood cuts published by Hans Holbein under the title
“Dance of Death” in 1538. In a class taking place in another room at the same time, students will have the opportunity to dissect and draw Didelphis virginiana–the
North American opossum, a “living fossil” whose anatomy has remained
virtually unchanged over the past 70 million years--in a dissection and drawing workshop led by physical anthropologist Samuel Strong Dunlap, PhD (third image).

Following, NYU’s Chris Muller will give a reprise of his "Comparative Anatomy: Animals and the Fundamentals of Drawing" class (second image) in which, with the use of several skeletons and other resources, students will learn to recognize and depict the basic shared forms
between humans and other animals. Finally, Board Certified Medical Illustrator Marie Dauenheimer will teach students the technique of carbon dust using real anatomical specimens; this technique, now largely forgotten, was an essential component of
medical illustration until the digital age, allowing the artist to create luminous,
textural, three-dimensional drawings by layering carbon dust on prepared
paper (bottom image).

Complete details and registration links follow for all classes. You can find out more about the Festival of Medical History and the Arts at the New York Academy of Medicine by clicking here. Hope to see you at one or more!

The “dance of death” or “danse macabre” was a “medieval allegorical concept of the all-conquering and equalizing power of death, expressed in the drama, poetry, music, and visual arts of western Europe, mainly in the late Middle Ages. It is a literary or pictorial representation of a procession or dance of both living and dead figures, the living arranged in order of their rank, from pope and emperor to child, clerk, and hermit, and the dead leading them to the grave.” (Encyclopedia Britannica). One of the best known expressions of this genre are a series of forty-two wood cuts by Hans Holbein published in 1538 under the title “Dance of Death.”

In this class, students will learn the techniques of woodcuts and linocuts by creating a copy of one of Hans Holbein’s prints from the Dance of Death series. The class will follow the entire process from beginning to end: drafting a copy of the image, either a fragment or whole; transfer of the image to a linoleum block; cutting the image; printing the image on paper. Students will leave class with their own finished Dance of Death linocut and the skills to produce their own pieces in the future.

creating a copy of either a fragment or full image from the series on paper. The copy can either be freehand and stylized, or students can use a grid to copy more exactly.

transfer the drawing to linoleum.

correction of image, and beginning to cut the image.

finalizing the cut image.

Printing the image. Students will be able to use several colors and backgrounds to create the final image.

Lado Pochkhua was born in Sukhumi, Georgia in 1970. He received his MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Tbilisi State Art Academy in Georgia in 2001. He currently divides his time between New York and Tbilisi, Georgia.

Modern
scientific dissection and illustrations commenced in the Renaissance.
Basic anatomical dissection, illustration and knowledge are still
fundamental in many fields such as evolutionary biology, surgery,
quality medical schools, and forensic science.

In
today’s workshop, we will dissect and draw a Didelphis virginiana–the
North American opossum–a “living fossil” whose anatomy has remained
virtually unchanged over the past 70 million years; this creature is
considered to be a good model for a basal–i.e. early or original–mammal.
Many comparative skeletal materials will be available for examination
and illustration, and additional specimens may also be available.
Gloves, scalpels and probes will be provided. Marie Dauenheimer, medical
illustrator (and instructor of this afternoon’s carbon dust workshop),
will assist with this workshop.

Dr. Samuel Strong
Dunlap is a physical anthropologist teaching and conducting research in
the Washington, DC metropolitan area. He specializes in human and
primate musculoskeletal anatomy with the goal of clarifying evolutionary
and development issues. Since completion of his PhD at Michigan State
University he has worked and done research in forensic anthropology,
human and primate anatomy and human evolution. He has worked on human
burial sites, forensic cases, with museum collections at Case Western
Reserve University, the Smithsonian and Howard University Anatomy
department. Archeology field experience included: an 18th century French
fort in Indiana, a Mousterian site in Tuscany and a 100 square mile
religious area in the Siskiyou Mountains of northern California.

Materials to bring with you to class:

Good quality drawing paper

Graphite pencils, HB, 2B

Colored pencils, emphasis on blue and brown shades

Erasers

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Comparative Anatomy: Animals and the Fundamentals of Drawing with Chris Muller, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts

Using animal and human anatomy as a jumping off point, this course will look at the ground-level, first principles of drawing as representation. Focusing mainly on mammal anatomy, we’ll look at the basic shared forms between humans and other animals, how these forms dictate movement, and how to express those forms.

With the aid of several skeletons we’ll look at basic structures, sprinkling our exploration with odd facts and observations. Messy investigatory drawings will ensue.

Chris Muller is an artist and exhibit designer based in Brooklyn. He has designed exhibits for the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum for African Art, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, and many others. He has designed sets for Laurie Anderson, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, the Atlantic Theater Company, and others. He teaches drawing and digital painting at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Carbon dust is a technique perfected by medical artist Max Brodel, at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, in the late 19th century. This technique–which, until the digital age, was an essential component of medical illustration education–allows the artist to create luminous, textural, three-dimensional drawings by layering carbon dust on prepared paper.

Today’s one day intensive workshop will teach students the use of this all but forgotten medium, and guide each student in the creation of a finished work based on real anatomical specimens supplied by the instructor. The workshop will also include a historical lecture placing carbon dust drawings in the context of the history of anatomical and medical art. The instructor will provide all materials necessary for this workshop, and will also share finished carbon dust drawings.

Marie Dauenheimer is a Board Certified Medical Illustrator working in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. She specializes in creating medical illustrations and animations for educational materials, including posters, brochures, books, websites and interactive media. Since 1997 Marie has organized and led numerous “Art and Anatomy Tours” throughout Europe for the Vesalius Trust. Past tours have explored anatomical museums, rare book collections and dissection theatres in Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Scotland and England. In addition to illustrating Marie teaches drawing, life drawing and human and animal anatomy at the Art Institute of Washington. Part of Marie’s anatomy class involves study and drawing from cadavers in the Gross Anatomy Lab at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC.
More on all and ticketing info can be found here.